In the carpet cleaning art, particularly, but not exclusively, for commercial buildings such as offices, retail stores, and industrial facilities large carpeted areas, tile, stone, concrete or other areas not adversely affected by water are cleaned by applying a liquid cleaning solution to the carpet or other areas to loosen and remove dirt, foreign particles and stains. The solution is subsequently removed by applying a vacuum. In the industry the device is referred to as an extractor. The extractor includes a housing or body that is moveable on wheels and in which there may be a clean solution tank or reservoir from which solution may be sprayed onto the soiled carpet or hard floor. The housing also includes a dirty or recovered cleaning solution tank or reservoir to receive the dirty cleaning solution from the carpeting to facilitate the drying of the carpeting and removal of the dirt and other soil loosened by the cleaning solution, optionally after agitation of the sprayed carpeting. The housing also includes a power source such as a motor that operates a fan that creates a vacuum in a chamber.
Many extractors have a suction head integrally attached to the body or housing of the extractor. Other extractors may include a hand held wand with a suction head at one end to be applied to the carpeting and attached at the other or handle end to a flexible hose that is attached to the vacuum source or chamber that the operator uses to remove the dirty solution and to collect it in a dirty cleaning solution tank. To provide flexibility in use, the hose is elongated thus permitting free movement of the wand and suction head by the operator over a substantial area of the floor without constantly moving the entire apparatus. Clean solution may be applied through a second hose also attached to the handle end of the wand at one end and to the clean solution tank at the other end. Alternatively, the clean solution may be applied with other equipment prior to the extraction process. The wand includes an elongated member attached to the second hose, the wand having a trigger at the upper end to control the dispensing of the clean solution.
A common problem in the prior art extractor apparatus art where the extractor includes a hose and a wand, is properly storing the hose and wand when not in use. Typically, there is no provision in the prior art for conveniently supporting the wound hose when not in use so that it may be carried by the housing rather than a user. Similarly, typical prior art extractor apparatus have no provision for holding an elongated wand on the apparatus so that it may be carried by the apparatus rather than the user when the apparatus is not in use. These problems are solved by the present invention as well as other deficiencies of prior art apparatus that are also solved with the present invention.
Other applications of the apparatus may include wet-dry vacuums, self-contained vacuums, ride-on scrubbers or other wheeled, portable devices that include a hose and a wand.